Mirror Mirror on the Wall (Paused)
by 823KE
Summary: Hiiragi Kagami finds her final semester of high school spiraling into disaster as her friends and acquaintances begin showing their romantic interests in her. Furthermore, she's being plagued by a strange phenomenon involving an empty world where only she exists. Life had never been easier for her, but now it's giving her a major headache. / KagamiHarem. Chapter 3.
1. Chapter 1

Kagami stifled a yawn as her eyes shut tightly against her will, very small tears emerging. She groaned and rubbed her eyes as she regained control of her face, looking at the bathroom's mirror. _God, I look terrible..._ she thought to herself.

Few minutes later, she was done with all necessities and exited the bathroom. The girl looked around for any sight of her sister, but to no avail. _Great, she's not awake yet._ She begrudgingly walked back up the stairs and opened the door to her sister's bedroom. "Tsukasa, time to wake up."

Tucked under several layers of bedsheets, her sister yawned from the bed. "Mmn... five more minutes..." the girl mumbled.

Kagami rolled her eyes. "You're going to be late. Come on..."

"S-sis..." Tsukasa groaned.

The older sister rolled her eyes.

It took a few seconds for the younger Hiiragi twin to finally push herself up, stretching her arms as she braced herself for the day to come. Kagami, meanwhile, went back to her own bedroom to change into her school's winter uniform.

Hiiragi Kagami found herself feeling a bit sad once she was reminded that her final year was soon coming to an end. She had asked her friends before about their university choices, but for some reason she can't recall any of them- not that it bothered her much anyways. _Konata probably hasn't even thought much about this, and Tsukasa's probably panicking about that..._ The stereotypical tsundere couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of having to help her sister pick a university.

_Of course, that's if she manages to get in anywhere..._ she eventually thought, growing a bit worried.

The girl finished dressing up and picked up her bag, of which she had prepared the night before. She left her room and peeked into her sister's room once more.

"Hey, now, Tsukasa! Wake up!" she yelled.

The younger Hiiragi twin snapped awake again on her bed, her uniform buttoned halfway. "S-sorry, sis! I fell asleep!"

"Yeah, no _duh_," Kagami replied. "I'll be waiting outside, so hurry it up, 'kay?" she said.

"W-wait for meeee!"

* * *

The two eventually made their way to the train station nearby. They sat patiently on colored seats, waiting for their train to come. Tsukasa looked around nervously. "What's the matter?" Kagami asked.

"N-nothing," her sister replied. "It's just... I'm so nervous, we're going to graduate from high school soon..." Tsukasa said.

"...yeah, I feel nervous too," Kagami said. "We'll all be going our separate ways, I assume... and who knows what will happen to each one of us? Will we still keep in contact with each other? Will we become too busy? I dunno... thinking about it makes me a bit sad, I guess."

Tsukasa frowned. "Sis... I'm sure we'll all still be together like always!" she said. "Besides, we can always visit each other anyways, so they won't forget us."

Kagami grinned. "Well, either ways, you should first focus on passing the finals," she teased.

"S-sis! Come on, it's not easy!" Tsukasa whined.

Chuckling, Kagami looked back at the train tracks. _A few more minutes..._ she thought to herself. Figuring she could play with something, anything, she reached into her pocket. She pulled out what she initially thought was her cellphone, but frowned once it entered her sight. "What the...?"

The foreign object wasn't something she recognized so far. Completely square, encased in bright pink plastic, she wondered what it was until her curious fingers rubbed over a sort of button somewhere and the item flipped open.

"...a mirror?" Kagami whispered. The more she stared at it, the more she felt like she recognized it somewhere, but the older Hiiragi twin couldn't place a finger on where she had picked up such a simple-looking mirror. It took a few more seconds of staring until her memories started returning to her. "Oh, I Remember this... I picked this up on my way home from univ..." she muttered, but stopped completely.

Beat.

She narrowed her eyes confusedly. _What was I about to say?_ she thought. _University? I'm not even out of high school yet, what the heck?_

Kagami eventually decided to dismiss her strange, strange mind and closed the mirror. She stuffed it in her bag, then looked forward, just in time to hear the screeching sound of a train slowing down.

Smiling, she looked in the direction of the approaching train. "The train's here, Tsuka...sa?"

She then noticed two things.

One: her sister was nowhere to be seen, nor her bag. No matter where her eyes darted at, she couldn't find a trace of her cute little sister that had been sitting right next to her this entire time.

But more importantly, the longer she looked around, she noticed something else.

Two: absolutely no one was around.

The station was filled with emptiness and dead silence, the eerie quietness sending shivers down her spine.

"Wh... where did everyone go?" she whispered. The train came to a stop, and the gates opened for her to enter, but she remained outside. "Tsukasa! Tsukasa? Where are you!?" she yelled. No response. The girl frowned. _That's weird... and even Konata's not here yet..._ she thought. Kagami looked back at the train- there didn't seem to be that many people inside.

The girl sighed and walked closer to the gates. Then she noticed, as she got closer, that it wasn't that there weren't that many people inside the train. Sure, when she couldn't see anyone, she often assumed people were just sitting somewhere deep inside the train, but this... was weird.

Nobody was in the train at all.

* * *

It took Kagami almost five minutes to realize that the train was- as odd as it was- waiting specifically for her. She had no idea where everyone went, nor where Tsukasa was, but she summed up her experience as a dream and decided to enter the train. The train then departed immediately and, to her chagrin, didn't show any signs of waking her up anytime soon.

She found out later, though, that the train was behaving quite normally and was headed for the closest station to her school.

When she reached the destination, she got off the train and made her way to class. After all, what exciting thing could possibly be waiting for her in this dream world of hers? Kagami changed shoes at the building's shoe locker, made her way up the stairs to the floor for her year, and entered her classroom.

Throughout the entire trip, not a single soul was inside the building.

"What's going on with Ryoo High?" she had asked herself at some point. That action, too, led her to another dream-like discovery: that her voice was non-existent here. She _knew_ what she said, and she could sort of _'hear'_ it, but she knew at the same time that she didn't actually say anything. The experience was quite... 'trippy', if she had to describe it, referring to some weird slang Konata pointlessly taught her ages ago.

Anyways, in her classroom, all the desks were lined up neatly just like normal. _Well, nothing out of the ordinary,_ she thought, _except that everything about this isn't ordinary. Seriously, where's everyone!?_

Kagami sighed and shook her head. She felt like she was in for a world of headaches, so she quickly took her seat and put her bag down.

"What's with everyone today, just disappearing like I'm the only one left?" she muttered. "It's creepy, and... oh, man, Konata would be gushing about how much this seems like a story plot," the girl mused with a chuckle.

She then pulled out the plain pocket mirror from before and looked into it again. _Oh man, you could see how freaked out I am,_ she thought.

"Whose mirror is this anyways?" she muttered and blinked.

"Oooh, what's that, Hiiragi? A new mirror?"

Kagami's eyes widened and she whipped her head around immediately. Kusakabe Misao stood behind her, eyeing the mirror that was now pocket-sized and in her hands, and Minegishi Ayano stood to her other side, waving a gentle greeting. She might have even jumped a bit, rattling her table, as Misao now seemed surprised by her... surprised state.

"Whoa! You okay, Hiiragi?" Misao asked. "What's the matter? You look like you've just seen a ghost, ahaha!"

Kagami's hand, shaking, pointed at the embodiment of energy herself. "What the hell are you..." she began to say, but froze further when she realized that there were people everywhere inside her classroom. Specifically, her classmates. _When did they all get here!?_ she thought. The girl looked around, extremely confused. "W-when did everyone get here?" she muttered.

Misao must have heard her, because then she gave her a skeptical look. "Uh, are you really alright, Hiiragi?" she asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagami inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Everyone's been here like normal," Misao replied.

Ayano frowned. "We actually didn't see you there, but one moment later and you suddenly appeared out of nowhere, going about your business," the orange haired girl explained.

"...you're kidding, right?" Kagami asked. The two's stares told her otherwise, but she didn't feel like playing their games right now. "...whatever it is you guys are trying to do, it's not funny, so knock it off." Kagami turned back and put her new pocket mirror away. "Today's started off really weirdly, so I'm not really in a good mood..."

_...wait, so that wasn't a weird, long dream sequence?_ Kagami eventually thought. Then her mind wandered to the disappearance of her sister. _...did I just not notice her go to the toilet?_

As if fate heard her, a familiar voice called for her. "S-sis!"

Kagami turned to the entrance of her class, seeing Tsukasa and more importantly Konata standing there. "Tsukasa!" she exclaimed and got up to head over ot her sister. "Where did you go!? I was so worried, thank god you're not missing or anything."

"Sis, what are you talking about?" Tsukasa asked, to her confusion. "Y-you're the one who disappeared! And just as Konata arrived..."

"I, whuh?" The older Hiiragi twin was now feeling more confused than ever. "Wh, what do you mean? I was there, waiting for the train, and you're the one who just... disappeared!"

"I dunno, Kagamin," Konata interrupted, "but I got there as the train arrived and you weren't anywhere to be seen."

_What? What does that mean?_ the tsundere asked herself mentally. This wasn't making any sense, nothing was making sense for her today, and-

_rinnngggg_

Everyone flinched once the bell rang. "A-ah! Homeroom's starting!" Tsukasa shouted. "S-sorry, sis! We'll talk later!"

"Ciaou ciaou, mon amigos Kagamin!" Konata said and ran off to her class as well.

"...what language was that?" Kagami muttered. She hesitantly walked back to her seat and sat down. _What the heck is going on?_ she resumed asking herself.

Misao looked at her face once more. "You sure you okay, Hiiragi?" she asked.

"...yes, I'm fine, Kusakabe." Kagami sighed. "Just... having a sort of weird day."

"I hope you feel better soon then," Ayano said to her.

"Me too, Minegishi. Me too."

She didn't know, however, that fate had other plans for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**On one hand, I'm obviously heavily inspired by **GrimGrave**'s Hiiragi Kagami harem stories. On the other hand, I've been planning a bigger rewrite of my Sonoda Umi harem story, and a part of that halfassed motivation transferred over to the Lucky Star fandom, I guess? Eh. I'm weird like that.**

* * *

"Heeey, Hiiragi," Misao said, snapping the girl out of a daze. "You seem really troubled. Want me to help you get to the nurse's office?"

Kagami sighed. "No, it's fine..." she muttered. "I think... I'll be fine, probably." She got up from her seat and walked out. "I'm going to wash my face. You can eat without me." She disappeared from the classroom then.

The brunette scratched her head. "Gee, Hiirari's out of it today," she said. "Makes you wonder what happened to her, doesn't it?"

"I suppose so," Ayano said as she pulled a chair next to Misao's seat and sat down. "I can only hope she's okay..."

* * *

"U-um, Ms. Hiiragi!" a voice called.

Kagami, who had just exited the female restroom, stopped in her tracks as a girl stood in front of her. A very _un_familiar girl, if she had to be specific. "Uh... yes?" she said.

The girl bowed and held something up for her. She narrowed her eyes, examining the small plastic bag carefully. "P-please accept this!"

"U-uh, I, okay?" Kagami confusedly accept the bag of... chocolates? And scratched her head. "Thanks, I guess... whoever you are..."

Before she realized, the girl was already gone, running away and squealing with glee. "Ohmygosh! Sheacceptedit!" she heard the girl shouting.

The older Hiiragi twin wondered what was going on, before looking back at the chocolates she had received. They were all shaped like hearts, causing her to turn light pink. "W-what the..."

At that moment, Konata appeared out of nowhere. "My, my, Kagamin, what're you holding there?" she inquired teasingly. "Is it perhaps some chocolates of love?"

"S-shut up," the tsundere growled. "I didn't even know her, jeez..."

"Oh, so I was... right, hmmm?" Konata asked. "And a girl, to top it off... my, Kagamin became so popular suddenly!" she snickered.

Kagami sighed exasperatedly. "God, Konata, I'm going to hit you," she threatened lightly. "Anyways, come on. I'm coming to your class to eat, what're you doing out here?"

The bluenette blinked. "Oh, nothing, nothing..." she hummed.

"...right." Oddly, the two didn't say anything else and they walked back to her class without initiating a single conversation. She entered her class to get her lunchbox from her bag, whilst Konata nodded and waited outside.

"Oh, Hiiragi. Feeling better now?" Misao asked.

"I guess so," Kagami said. "I'm heading off to eat with Konata. Have fun," she said and bid them a temporary goodbye.

The two friends rolled their eyes. "Geez, she always go to eat with them. Makes me question our friendship," Misao muttered to herself.

Ayano couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Oh, let her be. That's just how much she cares for her other friends and sister," she said.

"She could eat with us more often though... or maybe we should go eat with them too!" Misao exclaimed. "...some other day, though."

Another chuckle. "Of course, sure. That sounds nice."

The orange haired girl then looked down.

"It would indeed be quite nice..."

* * *

"And then I thought, 'that stinks!'" Tsukasa narrated, ending it with another chuckle. Her friends laughed along, slightly amused by her story.

"Anyways, I just remembered! You girls, Kagamin got chocolates of love!" Konata snickered.

"K-Konata!" Kagami growled, her face lighting up.

The others seemed quite surprised. "R-really, sis?" Tsukasa asked. "T-that's awesome! Congratulations!"

_On what?_ Kagami thought. "I-it's not that big of a deal, geez..." she said. "Besides, I don't even know the girl who gave it to me."

Miyuki raised an eyebrow. "A girl? So you were confessed to by someone of the same gender?" she asked.

"Ah... y-yeah, I did! What does it matter?" Kagami then said, feeling a bit embarrassed at having given it away.

Konata laughed. "So what're you going to do, Kagamin? Accept your cute kouhai girl's feelings, or break her heart? Knowing her, I bet she'll unintentionally do it anyways, uhuhu."

"W-what's _that_ supposed to mean!?" Kagami inquired. "Stupid!"

Miyuki then glanced at the bag of chocolates that the tsundere had put on her table. "But even so, I've noticed that you've received quite an amount of chocolate, Ms. Kagami."

"Yeah, that looks like a lot," Konata commented. "What say we help you finish all those chunks? After all, the calories..."

"Shut it, dork!" Kagami yelled. Her face red with humiliation, she shoved the bag of chocolates into her pocket. "Geez! I'm going to seriously hit you one of these days, Konata..."

"Haha, sorry, sorry."

Sighing, the purple haired tsundere sat down again. "But you're right, Miyuki... it seems like a lot. I'm not sure if I can finish them all, so... maybe I'll share some with Tsukasa and my sisters."

"Sis..." Tsukasa whispered with a smile. "...w-well, actually, my teeth has been hurting a bit, so..." she quickly said.

"Uh oh," Kagami said. "You're going to have to visit the dentist for that too, Tsukasa. Mom's definitely going to make you go before entering college."

The younger Hiiragi quivered. "B-but..."

Miyuki chuckled. "I understand how you feel, Ms. Tsukasa. Dentist visits are definitely not pleasant," she said.

"I still think drills are the essence of masculinity..." Konata muttered.

"I-if you think so..." Miyuki cleared her throat. "But yes, dentist visits are scary, but I find them quite enjoyable as well. Knowing how I'd no longer have to suffer from cavities puts me at ease."

"Huh... I suppose that's one way to put it," Kagami said. "But I also personally don't-"

The bell rang, interrupting them, as a blonde teacher walked into the room. "Alright, everyone, get back to your seats. Lunch is over."

"Oh, I should get going." Kagami got up and packed her lunch box. "See you girls later," she said.

"Bye bye, Kagamin!"

"See you later, sis..."

"Good luck, Kagami."

Feeling a bit refreshed after a meal with her friends, Kagami left the classroom and returned to her own, carrying her lunch box, the bag of chocolates she received, and a small nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right.

* * *

"Sorry, Tsukasa, it seems I'll be hanging out with Misao for a while," Kagami said.

"It's alright, sis. Konata and Miyuki will miss you though," her younger twin said with a chuckle. "You go have fun with Kusakabe and Minegishi, sis. We'll be fine!"

Kagami smiled. "Thanks. And make sure you don't forget to tell them I'll be home late," she said, referring to her family.

"I- I won't, sis. Last time was just a one-time slip up..."

"Heh, better be." Kagami waved bye and walked over to her energetic friend, who squealed happily.

"Yay! Hiiragi finally has time to hang out with us for once!"

"You say that like I'm being mean or something," Kagami muttered. She looked around- no Ayano in sight. "Where's Minegishi?"

Misao scratched her head. "Oh, Ayano said she just remembered she had to go talk to Ms. Sakuraba," she said. "She told me to just go with you and without her, but..."

"...you want to wait here for her, right?" Kagami asked. The brunette nodded. "...hm."

"Hiiragi?" Misao called when she walked away. The girl disappearing, she frowned and slumped against a wall, sliding down. "Hah... yeah, what did I expect? Of course Hiiragi wouldn't waste her time waiting for Minegishi, she wanted to go home with the chibi and her sister after all..." she muttered.

A few seconds later, footsteps echoed near her.

"What's wrong?" Kagami's voice asked.

Misao looked up. "Hiiragi? Why did you..."

"What are you talking about?" Kagami said. "I just went to the closest vending machine, near the school courtyard, to get something for us to drink. Here, bottle of water for you," she said and handed her friend a plain water bottle.

The brunette speechlessly accepted it and opened the lid, drinking from it. "...wow, Hiiragi. I thought you'd leave and go home or something."

"Seriously, what sort of image do people have of me?" the older Hiiragi twin mused. "I'll wait for Minegishi with you, geez. It's the least I can do for always spending time with Konata, I suppose."

"...hihi. Just as I thought, Hiiragi," Misao said.

"Hm?"

"Nothing, nothing." The two took another sip from their respective drinks, and stood quietly together, looking out the window, waiting for their friend's talk with their homeroom teacher to finish. _Just as I thought,_ Misao thought to herself, _Hiiragi's the best._

As they stood for a while, Kagami heard someone walking close to them. "Ah, senpai," a voice said.

Kagami's ears perked. She turned around to see a certain green haired girl looking at her. "Oh, hello. Um... Iwasaki, right?" she asked.

Iwasaki Minami nodded. "Is something the matter?" she asked in her monotone quiet voice.

The tsundere smiled. "No, nothing's wrong. Just waiting for a friend." She saw Konata's cousin, Kobayakawa Yutaka standing besides the girl, and they waved to each other. "Speaking of which, Miyuki just started heading home with Konata and Tsukasa," she said. "Do you want to catch up with her?"

Minami shook her head. "No, it is fine. I will walk home with Yutaka."

"W-we made plans to visit a cake restaurant together this evening," Yutaka said. "I just... it's a place I've always wanted to try...!"

Kagami smiled. "Is that so? That's nice." She turned back to Minami. "Miyuki was just telling me this afternoon of how passionate she was about dentist visits," she said. "I guess everyone has their preferences, huh? What about you two?"

Minami tilted her head. "I don't particularly mind them."

Yutaka shivered. "T-they can be a bit... intimidating."

"What about you, Misao?" Kagami asked.

Misao shrugged "It's kinda scary, but as long as they do their jobs, I can sit through anything! ...usually!"

Kagami chuckled. "Of course you can sit through anything. But yeah, it seems like most of everyone are a bit uncomfortable with it." She chuckled, remembering Miyuki's response. "It just seems so like Miyuki to be the odd one out, being so passionate about dentists..." Her smile gradually died as her volume lowered, stopping at zero. She then frowned. "...passionate about... dentists."

_But... Miyuki... doesn't like dentists..._

Her eyes narrowed. _Something's not right. Miyuki's... a bit different today._

"What's wrong, Hiiragi?" Misao's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, uh... nothing at all," the girl quickly said. _Surely Miyuki being strange can't be related to that weird stuff this morning,_ Kagami thought. "Anyways, why's Minegishi taking so long?" she asked.

"Well, I dunn- oh, she's here!" Misao said. The two saw Ayano exiting the teacher's lounge and walk towards them. "You're heeeere!" Misao cheered.

Ayano chuckled. "Did I keep you waiting for long?"

"Not too long, I guess," Kagami said. She turned to Minami and Yutaka. "We'll be leaving now, then."

Minami nodded. "Have a safe trip, senpai."

"We're going to ask Patty and Hiyori if they want to come too!" Yutaka said. "See you later, Kagami-senpai!"

Kagami nodded and waved. "Stay safe, girls!"

She turned and grinned to her friends. "So where did you want to hang out?" she asked.

"The park! Let's go to the park!" Misao exclaimed.

"Eh... sure, why not?"

* * *

**Just wanted to add in, I'm not particularly too serious in writing this story, so if it seems rushed or boring or nonsensical at any point... eh. I'm just taking my sweet time writing whatever comes to mind, I guess.**


	3. Chapter 3

Kagami smiled as she watched Misao and Ayano play on the swings. Notably, Ayano was having a nice time and was calm, but Misao was- if she had to describe it- almost going wild with the swings.

"Yaaay! Yaaaay! Hanging out with Hiiragi!" Misao cheered.

_More like I'm being a babysitter..._ Kagami thought. Then... "S-stop announcing it out loud, jeez."

"Huehueee, is Hiiragi embarrassed?" Misao teased with a grin.

"S-shut it," was the reply she got.

Ayano chuckled. "But it really is a surprise to be able to spend time with you, Hiiragi. We've never really hunt out together that much, have we?"

"W-well..." Kagami muttered. _I'm usually with Konata and the others, after all..._ she thought. "Sorry, girls."

Misao snickered. "Yeah, Hiiragi's too busy with that chibi and her sister!"

The tsundere's face turned red. "H-hey! What're you implying!?"

"It's alright to be gay, Hiiragi!" Misao exclaimed.

"I'm not- Kusakabeeee!" Kagami yelled.

Her two friends laughed for a while, enjoying teasing the girl. The sun eventually fell even more, and everything was turning dark orange.

In time, Kagami stood against the swing's supporting poles, as Misao and Ayano slowed down their swinging.

"It really is quiet and peaceful here, huh..." Kagami whispered.

The two nodded. "Yes, quite. I wouldn't mind doing this again," Ayano said.

"Yeah... yeah, I wouldn't either," Misao said.

Kagami smiled. _These two... I should try to be with them a bit more often._ Leaving silence to take over, she went through the events of today's, suddenly recalling the strange phenomenon happening around her. _Speaking of which... that mirror..._ The girl reached for the mysterious mirror that she took ownership of.

"Say, Hiiragi," Misao said. "What do you think about... girls liking girls?" she suddenly asked.

Hands still in her pocket, the purple haired girl raised an eyebrow. "What's this about?" she asked, and eventually pulled the pocket mirror out.

"Nah, I just... I- I'm not implying anything, I swear!" Misao said. "I just... want to know your stance on it, I guess."

Kagami smiled. "Well, I mean, I..." she said, but paused. _Liking girls? That's... not weird..._ She frowned, staring through the case of the pocket mirror. Her mind was now distracted, as she thought about her sexuality. _What a topic..._ "...Kusakabe, I'll be honest. I think... I don't mind it one bit."

Ayano noticed Misao's serious expression turned into a smile. _Misa... you..._

"T-that's... good to know!" Misao suddenly said.

"Heh, what's this, Kusakabe? You make it sound like you're going to reveal that you're gay," Kagami noted. _Oh, right, the mirror._ She clicked open the pocket mirror and stared at her reflection.

"W-well, hey, I'm not... saying anything like that, I just..." Misao turned slightly red. "M-maybe I just want to say... y-you're a really good friend?"

...

...

Misao frowned. "Hiiragi?" she asked, her eyes traveling right... and she noticed that Kagami's shadow was gone. She looked up and turned her head to the right, where her friend had stood. Stood, but no longer stood. It was like Kagami had completely disappeared from the world, like a ninja. "H-Hiiragi...?"

Ayano looked as well and was left quite puzzled. _Where did Hiiragi go?_ she thought briefly, but then turned to Misao. "...more importantly, Misa... just now..."

"...ahaha, guess it's easy to figure out, huh?" Misao suddenly said with a laugh. Sighing, the girl looked back down. "Yeah, I... sorry, I just... w-wait, that's not the problem right now!" The girl quickly got up and looked around. "H-Hiiragi? Where'd you go?"

* * *

"W-well, hey, I'm not..."

Kagami grinned. _I think I just found something to tease Kusakabe with,_ she thought and silently chuckled.

Then nothing else came.

_...or am I being a bit too pushy with_ her?

Kagami glanced behind her. Then she gasped, jumping away and turning around. "G-girls?" she asked.

Misao and Ayano had completely vanished, leaving behind not even a single trace of existence.

"W-where are... not this again..." she muttered. _It's just like this morning! Like Tsukasa's weird magic trick..._ she thought. "What the heck is going on today, seriously? First Tsukasa, now Kusakabe and Minegishi... can't a girl stare at a mirror in peace without some crazy dream-like thing happening?"

She sighed and walked out the park, onto the street. She looked left and right- no sight of incoming cars.

In fact... there were no dogs or cats or birds or even insects nearby, either, which slightly creeped her out.

Kagam grimaced. "...okay, this is really freaky..." she thought. _Actually... wait, what if I'm just hallucinating, and they're still here?_ The girl looked back at the swings. _What if... they're looking at me right now, wondering why I'm walking around and acting weird?_ The girl shivered. "What the hell am I even high on...?"

Slowly, she walked back to where she previously stood and leaned against the pole once more.

"Jeez... give me a break, life." The girl took out her pocket mirror once more and stared into it. "Just let me, an ordinary high school girl, be..."

"...and... yeah, I guess that's all I can say," Misao's voice suddenly droned in.

Kagami blinked. _Huh?_ She turned around to see Misao and Ayano sitting on the swings once more, chatting normally. _What the...?_

"I-it's just that simple I guess," Misao said, not having noticed her. "I like Hiiragi. I really like Hiiragi, but, well... you know? What's the use?"

The older Hiiragi twin was about to call their names, but this just cracked her jaw open in pure shock.

Ayano patted her friend's back. "Come now, don't think negatively. I'm sure if you work hard for it, you will eventually get her attention," she said. "Besides... I-" A normal blink later, Ayano noticed an existence standing to Misao's right. Notably, it was Hiiragi Kagami herself. Her jaw dropped open, equally shocked at the timing and situation.

The two stared at each other.

_...well, this is awkward,_ Kagami thought.

_My, this is awkward,_ Ayano thought.

Then Misao noticed her orange haired friend going silent. "Ayano? What's the matter?" she asked and looked up at her friend. Then, noticing her shock, she looked right and noticed that very Hiiragi Kagami standing there once more. Misao stared at the tsundere, her mouth open. "H... Hiira... Hii..."

"...u-uh..." Kagami tried to start. "I... well, um. Haha, that's... really... flattering?"

Misao's face then turned extremely red. "H-H-Hiiragi! Y-you! You!" she screamed. Then she grabbed her bag and turned around. "Y-you magician meanie bullyyyy!"

The two watched as the brunette ran away from the park at an incredible speed, disappearing in less than ten seconds.

Kagami then frowned. "W-wait, what'd she call me!?"

_That's what you question?_ Ayano thought.

* * *

Iwasaki Minami cut another small piece off her cake and stabbed it lightly with her fork. She lifted it and brought it close to Kobayakawa Yutaka's face, who happily chomped on it. "...good?"

"Mmhm!" Yutaka cheered. She chewed on the cake piece and swallowed. "I like the flavor and soft creamy texture!"

"Good," Minami replied with a content smile. A smile that soon evaporated as she thought back on today.

_Kagami chuckled. "It just seems so like Miyuki to be the odd one out, being so passionate about dentists..."_

Takara Miyuki, her close neighbor, would sometimes come to hang out with her- out of consideration, of course, she realized. They often had random conversations as a way to kill time and get to know each other- albeit admittedly one-sided, since Minami herself rarely talked much. But one thing she recalled was that the Miyuki she knew definitely didn't like dentists, more being afraid of those shady people.

Her upperclassmen Kagami seemed to realize this soon after saying it, Minami noticed. The tsundere must've caught on too, what Minami was wondering: is something bothering Takara Miyuki?

"...Minami?" Yutaka's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "I-is something wrong?"

"...oh." Minami realized that her eyes had been narrowed, and she had been glaring at the spot next to Yutaka for some time now- not for any reason, really. "Sorry. I'm... just thinking."

"Okay..." Yutaka replied. After a few more seconds of silence, she smiled. "Minami, if anything is bothering you, I'm willing to listen!" she said and flashed that miraculously innocent faze. Not just her, but everyone around, Minami could feel everyone melting slightly at the sight of that fact.

Worries washed away temporarily, Minami held up her fork again. "Aaah."

Yutaka happily received that piece of cake as well.

* * *

Kagami gulped. "I... I didn't know she..."

"Of course you didn't know," Ayano said. "I reckon she had always been scared that revealing that would out her as a weird person."

"H-hey, I wouldn't say that she's weird for that," Kagami said.

Ayano nodded. "Yes, I agree, but Hiiragi, surely you know that most people in our country don't view homosexuality well, right?" she said. The Hiiragi twin nodded slowly. "Misa's a bright and cheerful person most of the times, but that's because she has to be."

"She... has to?" the shrine maiden asked.

"Her house isn't exactly a pleasant place to be around," Ayano explained. "Her parents don't interact with her much, her grandparents often criticizes her, and she and her brother don't exactly get along well. She's probably the only optimistic person in her family, too."

"...how do you even know this?" Kagami asked.

"Oh, I talk with her brother often. We _are_ together after ll," Ayano said and chuckled.

Kagami was surprised, to say. "Whaaaa...? When did that happen!?"

"Oh, Hiiragi. There's a lot you don't know about us," Ayano said and winked. She then got up and grabbed her bag. "I say you should take this chance to get to know Misa some more. It wouldn't hurt to be closer to us, don't you think?" With that, she left with a smile on her face, whilst Kagami remained seated on the swings, still slightly speechless.

_...Kusakabe..._

* * *

Takara Miyuki glanced out the window calmly. "...hmhm."


End file.
